


How To Be Happy

by Alobear



Category: Wayfarers Series - Becky Chambers
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 10:12:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18313508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alobear/pseuds/Alobear
Summary: While on their space walk at the end of the novel, Rosemary and Sissix consider all that's happened.





	How To Be Happy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [earlymorningechoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlymorningechoes/gifts).



> I love the Wayfarers books so much, so it was great to get the opportunity to revisit this world, especially with this wonderful pairing of characters.

Rosemary felt something brush against the glove of her spacesuit and turned her head to see that Sissix had floated up next to her. She grasped Sissix’s hand and they stared out together into the vastness of space.

“What are you thinking about?” came Sissix’s voice through her helmet.

“About how happy I am,” Rosemary said. She felt Sissix’s fingers squeeze hers through the bulky glove. “And how bad I feel about that.”

“What?” Concern and confusion coloured Sissix’s words. Rosemary was glad of her lack of peripheral vision and how easy that made it to avoid eye contact. “Why would you feel bad?”

Rosemary sighed. It was hard to put into words. “Being out here. And being with you. It’s amazing. But everything that’s happened… It’s all so much. And it’s caused everyone such pain. We’ve got a long way to go before we’ll be back to normal. And it makes me feel guilty. That I feel so happy to be here.”

Sissix pulled her closer and rested an arm across her back. “Never feel bad about being happy. I’m happy too. And we deserve to be. None of the others will begrudge us that. And it doesn’t mean we don’t love them and want them to be happy too. Or that we don’t share the pain they’re feeling right now. The ship is never going to get back to normal. Too much has changed.”

“Exactly,” Rosemary said. “Jenks is putting on a brave face, but I don’t think he’ll ever get over losing Lovey.” Tears threatened but she didn’t want to find out what crying inside her helmet would do, so she fought them back.

“None of us will. And that’s as it should be. She was our friend and now she’s gone. We won’t forget her.”

“But how will Tycho ever manage to fit in? He knows what happened but he can’t fully appreciate how complicated the situation is. And he must feel terribly awkward about it. But it’s not his fault and he deserves to have a proper place on the crew.”

Sissix’s voice remained calm and understanding. “So, we remind ourselves and each other of that. And we do whatever we can to help him feel welcome. Jenks understands all that, and he’s not going to take out Lovey’s loss on Tycho. He’s not that kind of guy.”

“I know,” Rosemary said. “But it’s not going to be easy for him, is it?”

“Of course not. Grief never is. But we’ll be there for him too. We’ll let him know we understand how he feels and that he can lean on us when he needs to.”

“And what about Corbin?” Rosemary shook her head, still trying to come to terms with that mess. “After what he did, do you think Ashby will ever be able to forgive him?”

“Ohan has,” Sissix pointed out. “So the rest of us will have to, as well. And Ashby doesn’t have a choice.” A note of frustration crept into her tone. “We’re stuck with Corbin for the foreseeable future. He has to stay where I am and I’m not going anywhere. So, we’re all going to have to get along as best we can. Besides, hasn’t it worked out for the best? I’m not saying I agree with what Corbin did, but I understand why he did it, and I’m glad Ohan didn’t die. Aren’t you?”

“Of course! But what must he be going through?” Rosemary couldn’t imagine how profound an alteration Ohan must be experiencing to his core beliefs and his own sense of personal identity.

“A lot,” Sissix agreed. “So we support him too, in whatever way we can. He’s chosen to stay with us. And he’s more a part of our family than ever. We have to honour that by helping him come to terms with his new state of existence.” She gave a small chuckle. “Go on, what’s next? We might as well solve all your worries in one go, while we’re out here.”

Rosemary couldn’t help a smile at that. Then the biggest source of guilt washed over her, the one that related to her own actions.

“I shouldn’t have pushed Ashby to go to Hagarem and speak to the committee.”

“Why not?” Sissix asked.

The words came out in a rush. “Because he was in the middle of dealing with so much stuff. We were all reeling from the attack and everything else was falling apart and all he needed was some rest so he could take stock and regain a sense of control. And I yelled at him until he agreed to go far away to answer questions from a set of stupid people who didn’t understand one thing about what we went through. And they tried to accuse us of provoking the attack! And Ashby had to face that on top of everything else, because I made him.”

Sissix chuckled again. “Nobody makes Ashby do anything. And you weren’t angry at him. He knows that, and he agreed with you. That’s why he went. And his speech to the committee made them decide to dissolve the alliance with the Toremi, so you contributed to a great thing that could save countless lives. So quit feeling bad, okay?”

Rosemary looked out into space. It was so huge. And they were so small. But that didn’t mean their problems weren’t important. Or that they didn’t feel things deeply. They were out here in the void, just trying to find a path through the stars. One tiny ship floating in space. And all they had to hold onto, to stop them getting lost, was each other. Sissix was right. They deserved to be happy. And they needed to be there for the rest of the crew, to help them find their way back to happiness too. That was what family was all about. And that was what she had found on the Wayfarer. A family. Rosemary turned to face Sissix with a smile.

“I’m ready to go back in now,” she said.

THE END


End file.
